


The Mistletoe Games

by missmichellebelle



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Christmas, Ficmas: December 2013, Fluff, Humor, Kissing Games, M/M, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2013-12-04
Packaged: 2018-01-03 10:46:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1069546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmichellebelle/pseuds/missmichellebelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Challenge accepted, Colfer."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mistletoe Games

"Are you serious?"

And that's how it starts. Chris's attempt to look unamused but mostly coming off as slightly uncomfortable and a lot surprised, and Darren holding a sprig of mistletoe between his fingers and up above their heads.

"As the plague," Darren answers in some kind of drawl that Chris is sure is a reference to something that he can't place right now.

"I—"

But Chris doesn't get the chance to finish his thought. Darren darts in, smacks a kiss against his cheek, and then prances away like some kind of holiday elf on a sugar trip.

For a few moments, Chris just stares into empty space. Then he gently touches his cheek and smiles.

*

Darren clears his throat.

" _Again?_ " Chris asks when he looks up, because he can't believe it. Sure, the holiday season starts early on set, but this is a little ridiculous. Never mind the Santa hat Darren has taken to sporting when he can get away with it, and the candy canes Chris keeps finding hooked onto his trailer or chair, he can live with those. It's hardly been two weeks, and Darren is back, holding the mistletoe.

"Where's you Christmas spirit?" Darren swings the mistletoe back and forth, and Chris can't help but stare at it.

"You took it. You're like a Christmas sponge, just sucking up all the Christmas spirit in the air." Chris furrows his eyebrows. "It's the only way I can explain all… This." Chris gestures to Darren, and he bounces on his toes in response.

"There's nothing wrong with enjoying the holiday, Christopher."

"Not saying there is, just…" Chris's eyes flick to the mistletoe. _I'm just confused by your way of showing it. Most people just wear Santa hats_. But he doesn't say anything.

"Just?" Darren prompts, and he leans in close, gripping the arm of Chris's chair with his free hand. He's still holding the mistletoe between them, but it's nearly touching Chris's forehead.

Chris has a momentary freak out, where he knows exactly what's about to happen but no idea how to deal with said knowledge. _He wouldn't_ , he thinks, eyes searching Darren's, but there's no reassurance there.

In the end, it's a gut reaction—a knee-jerk, something he does completely subconsciously. Darren leans in and, at the last second, Chris turns his head to the side and Darren's lips collide soundly with his cheek.

The seconds that follow last a lifetime.

There's an amount of terror that Chris can't definitively quantify, because he just _did_ that. Was that a rejection? Because Chris didn't mean it as a rejection, he didn't mean it at _all_ (right?), his body just sort of did it without him really thinking about it.

"So it's like that, huh?"

The fact that Darren's voice isn't hurt or cold but _playful_ is what gives Chris the courage to turn and look at him. Darren is grinning, his eyes glinting, and Chris feels a completely different sort of terror. Darren leans in again, but this time Chris doesn't even flinch. Their noses are nearly touching when Darren finally stops, and Chris's skin feels hot.

"Challenge accepted, Colfer."

And then Darren pulls back, winks at him (or gives it his best, adorable attempt), and walks away. Chris stares after him dumbly before the words finally register.

"…wait, _what?_ "

*

Then it's a game. Darren makes it a game without Chris having any input, or knowing any of the rules. The only thing he knows is that, for some reason, Darren is trying to kiss Chris— _really_ kiss him—under a sprig of mistletoe. Maybe it's just one of those things about Darren that Chris will never really get.

At first, Chris doesn't really think about it, but that comes more from the fact that he doesn't know what's happening. One second, he's just sitting next to Darren at lunch, telling him about how Brian might have nibbled on one of his decorative house plants and _that's really not good for cats, right?_ , and the next Darren is leaning in. Chris nearly falls over backwards as he tries to get away, but at least Darren misses.

He stares with wide eyes, and then Darren grins and goes, "Damn," before taking a bite of his cookie.

Then, it's a little scary. Darren just pops up out of nowhere, even when he's not supposed to be there, and Chris feels constantly on-guard. Everyone on set starts to notice what's going on, looking at Chris with strange expressions that leave him feeling frustrated because he has _no idea what's going on, stop looking at me like that_.

Eventually, he starts feeling annoyed. When Darren dives in (sometimes going as far to ruin a take), Chris doesn't hesitate to clap his hand over Darren's mouth. Every time, Darren kisses it.

And finally, it becomes fun. Because Chris _likes_ games once he figures them out, and it doesn't take too long to figure out Darren's. He knows very well he could stop all of this, that he just has to let Darren kiss him, but… He doesn't want to. Well, doesn't want to _let_ Darren kiss him. Chris tells himself that it's a pride thing, that he wants to win, but a part of him whispers that he likes the game, likes having Darren's attention, likes the kisses that _just_ miss and land on his jaw or his nose or his eyebrow.

Chris ignores the whispers.

It culminates into something that _everyone_ is in on. Some people are on Chris's side, and some people are on Darren's, and no one even really knows how it started but that doesn't stop it from being fun. Chris laughs more in those few weeks than he has in a long time, and he resolutely doesn't think about the reasoning behind it all. He doesn't think about how badly Darren is trying to kiss him, and tells himself it's all about the thrill of the chase, the desire to win.

Nothing more.

*

The day the game ends is a day that Chris isn't even supposed to be on set. In fact, Darren isn't supposed to be on set, either. It should be safe, for all intensive purposes, so Chris takes no preventive measures as he heads into his trailer humming under his breath.

The second he hits the floor is the moment he realizes someone has betrayed him.

Darren's entire body weight is pinning him down, and he glares up at that smug grin and tries to move his arms to no avail (Darren has him pinned down by the wrists).

"You're quite elusive," Darren tells him, voice quiet.

"Where's your mistletoe?" Chris shoots back, and Darren's eyes roll up towards the ceiling. When Chris looks up, he sees it, dangling down from a piece of ribbon right above them. "Wow, good aim," Chris comments, marginally impressed.

"Thanks," Darren replies, like they're having a normal conversation under normal circumstances and Darren isn't on top of him. In an enclosed, private area.

Chris's heartbeat picks up the pace.

"I guess this is game over, then." Chris can't help the tinge of disappointment he feels, but it had to come sooner or later. Even now, Chris could avoid it for a time, but if Darren were persistent enough he'd win eventually. Or maybe Chris is just ready to give in.

"Yeah," Darren breathes, and Chris closes his eyes in preparation.

Only, Darren doesn't kiss him. In fact, he let's go of Chris's wrists.

Chris's eyes flutter open in confusion.

"The game ends today, but I'm not going to kiss you," Darren tells him, and something cold and aching shoots through Chris's entire body. It's stupid, feeling hurt over something so insignificant, but Chris can't stop it. "Not unless you want me to," Darren finishes, and Chris's eyes widen in shock.

He doesn't say anything, doesn't know what to say, and Darren continues to stare at him even as the silence stretches on. But there must be a fill line, a limit, because eventually Darren starts to lift himself away, his eyes shielded.

That's when Chris does one of the stupidest things he's ever done.

He grabs Darren by the shirt, pulls him down, and kisses him. There's irony in that, somewhere.

Darren pulls back after a few seconds, mutters, "Guessing that's a yes?"

"Mistletoe," is how Chris answers, and Darren blinks at him. Chris jerks his head up, and Darren doesn't even look before he smiles.

"Sure," Darren murmurs, leaning down closer, "Let's go with that."

Chris is pretty sure that mistletoe is normally just used for a single kiss. Then again, it's not like anyone is going to know they used it as an excuse for anything else.

*

The next year, when Christmas rolls around, Darren shows up with mistletoe again and Chris gives him a fond smile.

"I don't think you really need that anymore, do you?" He asks, and Darren smiles dopily at him. Darren stopped needing mistletoe quite some time ago now.

Still, he holds up the mistletoe as he goes in for a kiss, and, just because he can, Chris turns his head at the last second so that Darren gets his cheek.

"…seriously?" Darren let's out a small, incredulous laugh, and Chris smiles.

"No," he says, and then pulls Darren in for a real kiss. They don't need excuses or games anymore.


End file.
